Vance referred to Lammy as “my English friend” and, in the context of Trumpian pressure for European allies to increase their contributions to Nato, said: “England has been one of the few exceptions where it has fielded a very capable military over the last generation.”
So if we’re only talking about England, can they please close down Faslane and station their subs on the Thames?
“For three years, the Europeans have told us that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe. And for three years, they have failed to respond as if that were actually true,” Vance said. “Donald Trump famously told European nations they have to spend more on their own defence. He was chastised by members of this chamber for having the audacity to suggest that Germany should step up and pay for its own defence.”
Oh god, I had forgotten how exhausting that talking point was during the ■■■■■, I mean, the dark years.
Per GDP Germany supports Ukraine more than the US, btw
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/these-countries-have-committed-the-most-aid-to-ukraine
The U.S. has committed 0.32% of its GDP toward Ukraine aid, which falls below the percentages committed by the U.K. (0.55%) and Germany (0.57%).
Never heard of this guy, but he sounds like a POS.
Someone described him as “Nazi Teddy Ruxpin,” and now I will never be able to think of him any other way.
I know it’s an ambassador’s job to be nicey-nicey, most of the time, but seriously?
Who’s pulling his string?
In what way exactly… he has the exact same trajectory as Vance, from a critic to firm backer of Trump, adopting all of his views along the way.
I thought Tim Scott did a better job of self-debasement, to be honest, and I often got the feeling that he would have offered to have Trump’s baby if he could.
I’m not a fan of the Byline Times, as I don’t like that sort of biased media masquerading as independent, even if it supports “my side” (e.g. the anti-Brexit one), but they have done a good job there highlighting Vance’s scariest quotes when it comes to foreign policy
And cost him half of the Florida electoral votes, due to that old one weird trick.
That was Jack Vance.
A guy named “Stew” is worried that “Ewan” isn’t a proper name for a good white Christian boy?
A Ewan played Space Jesus for crying out loud!
Rubio at least still has enough of a veneer of respectability and policy competency to appeal to old guard Republicans who might still be on the fence about voting for Trump because of his unhinged antics. The kind who still want to destroy all of those pesky civil rights for people who aren’t white enough or rich enough or male enough, but want to do so in a controlled, downright banal manner so as not to destabilize their prescious markets.
I don’t think that Vance is well liked by just about anyone, and I wonder whether even the diehard fascists are going to want a guy like him just a heartbeat away for the presidency.
But more to the point, Vance is so similar to Trump that anyone who is excited to have him on the ticket is the kind of person who would have voted for Trump anyway. I think that Rubio would have added a few votes from the weird Venn Diagram of people who like authoritarianism, but don’t like the slapdash way Trump is going about it.
I think at this point ANYONE who is not completely disavowing Trump and his movement is tainted. They are ALL fascists now, no matter how many nice noises they make out of their hate holes. Every single one.
Which is actually an appeal in the MAGA cult. Not being popular with “normies” means that you are doing something right.
I doubt it… 
I’m not saying that Rubio isn’t awful. He absolutely is. But he’s ordered evil to Trump’s chaotic evil.
And I would wager that a good number of the Never Trumpers who kept voting for Nikki Haley after she dropped out of the primaries were looking for somebody more like Rubio on the ticket.
But god only knows what independents are going to make of this. I don’t think it will move the needle in Trump’s favor among independents, but I suppose the same could just as easily be said about Rubio.
I disagree on that… I don’t think rubio would bring in anyone. I don’t think he’s well-liked, he’s just not as bombastic as Vance. He’s pretty obviously desperately trying to find relevance in Trump world and failing… I also don’t think he’s somehow more measured than Trump, he’s just… not as well documented…
And there is no reason to think that the party has any interest in moderating their platform or tone at all. That lasted 2 seconds and they are right back to the apocalyptic vision of destroying the rest of us… I guess you ex-pats will the the last of us soon enough.
I could be way off base about how disliked Rubio is. He always seems like such a background character that I had assumed that not many outside Florida have a strong opinion about him either way, which I think would be an advantage over Vance.
But maybe that’s just wishful thinking. The world has changed a lot since Sarah Palin, so maybe the super unqualified asshole won’t drag the campaign down…but I can still hope.
No, I need to hope that this is another Palin VP pick.
Oh no, he’s not popular at all… don’t forget that he’s already run for president and washed out.
That’s trump…
“What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are
the expectations that they had for their own livesPeter Thiel’s money and how willing you are to lie for it. Yet the message of the right is increasingly: It’s not your fault that you’re a loser; it’s thegovernment’sthe Left’s fault. And it is.”
